Sevastopol in Moscow-annexed Crimea, which has come under repeated attacks in recent months, serves as the naval headquarters and logistics center for operations in Ukraine.
The Russian army claimed to have "destroyed" nine air drones and seven sea drones in an attack on the port early Saturday. Moscow forces claimed that British "specialists" who they said were stationed in the southern Ukrainian city of Ochakiv helped prepare and train Kyiv to carry out the attack.
Outside Britain, which Moscow regards as one of the most hostile western countries, Moscow said the same British entity was involved in explosions at Nord Stream gas pipelines last month. Resorting to spreading false claims on an epic scale."
The UK Ministry of Defense said this "made up story says more about the infighting within the Russian government than about the West". Ukrainian grain export. Russia recently criticized the agreement, saying its own grain exports had suffered under Western sanctions.
"MASSIVE" ATTACK Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-based governor of Sevastopol, said the Saturday 'drone strike was the "most massive" attack the peninsula has ever seen.City services were "on alert" but said no "civilian infrastructure" had been damaged.
He urged city residents not to post videos of the incident on social media. "It should be clear to everyone that such information is very important for the Ukrainian Nazis to understand how our city's defenses are set up," he said.
City authorities said the port was "temporarily" closed to ships and ferries, and they urged people to “Don't Panic.” Attacks in Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014, have escalated in recent weeks as Kyiv advances a counter-offensive in the south to retake territory held by Moscow for months
Moscow-installed authorities in Kherson, just north of Crimea, vowed to turn the city into a fortress in preparation for an inevitable attack. On Thursday, Razvozhayev said that a thermal power plant in Balaklava in the Sevastopol region was attacked. He stated that there was only minor property damage and no injuries. in the port was also attacked by a drone in August.
Russia's accusations came on Saturday as Ukraine's military reported fighting in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east, including near Bakhmut, the only area Moscow's forces have entered in recent weeks.
Pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow have also announced a new prisoner swap with Kyiv, saying 50 from each side will return home.
On the southern front, AFP journalists witnessed artillery fire in the village of Kobzartsi, the last settlement on the Ukrainian side before the line of contact with the Russians. go wrong here. But we know they suffer a lot more from their side than from ours,” said Oleksiy, a Ukrainian soldier in his 20s.
Both sides were preparing to fight for the city of Kherson, the region's capital, which fell to Moscow forces in the first days of their offensive